ROUND 4 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 11 January 2017

4th round of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel for Gary Ozeray and Catherine Juillaguet.

This Wednesday 11 January, the 92 ski touring competitors entered in the 4th instalment of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel enjoyed good conditions thanks to the ten or so centimetres of snow that fell the day before. The ski mountaineering race was once again held on the fallback course, as snow cover on the official route from Le Praz was still a little thin in places. This time the competitors did not need to take off their skis to run to the finish line on the final ascent. No new records were set but there were fine wins for Gary Ozeray, who won in 22min59s, and Catherine Juillaguet in 26min17s. In second position came Rémi Berchet (23min09s) and Elsa Nodet (28min21s), and in third Will Juillaguet (23min40s) and Mélanie Rousset (29min32s).

In the ESF challenge, no surprise for Gary Ozeray, who won hands down. Among the women instructors, it was Véronique Glez of ESF Les Arcs who made the difference with a fine time of 35min46s.

After the 4 rounds held, the state of the provisional overall standings on the 2017 fallback course is as follows: William Bon Mardion leads in 20min02s ahead of Mathéo Jacquemoud (20min36s) and Yoann Sert (20min54s). Among the women, Corinne Favre dominates in 25min42s ahead of Catherine Juillaguet (26min17s) and Adèle Milloz (26min35s).

In the provisional overall standings of the 2017 ESF challenge, Val d’Isère is in front with Simon Bellabouvier (21min21s) followed by ESF Arêches with Léo Rochaix (22min39s) and ESF Valmorel with Florian Sautel (22min47s). Among the women instructors, ESF La Toussuire stands out with Candice Bonnel (27min27s) and Laura Deplanche (28min18s), hot on the heels of ESF La Clusaz with Célia Perillat Pessey (28min55s).

The counters will be reset to zero next Wednesday!

It is planned that, from 5 rounds completed on the fallback course, the rewards on the official course will be split in two so as to fairly endow the records of the official and fallback courses. So we will have to wait to validate the fallback records because, with the heavy snowfall forecast for the coming days, the 5th round on Wednesday 18 January will take place on the official route from Le Praz.

For 7 years, more than 10,000 starts have been given on this official course of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel, which has become an institution in the ski mountaineering world. It is now the benchmark race par excellence in Vertical Race. The French Championships were organised on this 3.2 km course with 500 m of elevation gain in 2012 and 2013, as well as the 2014 Ski Mountaineering World Cup. All the world’s best have come to compete on this route, including the multiple ski mountaineering world champions Laetitia Roux (25min31s) and Kilian Jornet (22min01s), who hold the absolute records. In the space of 6 years, the number of participants in this race, open to all, has literally exploded: 938 starts were given in 2011 and 2,158 in 2016, an increase of 130%. This unique and original race concept is today the pride of Guillaume Prin, president of the Courchevel Sports Outdoor Montagne et Escalade club, and his whole team of 30 passionate volunteers who accompany him in this adventure with the precious help of the official partners Millet, Plum and Dynastar. If all goes well, 10 rounds will be held on the official course every Wednesday until Thursday 23 March for the 2017 fancy-dress grand final, with more than 600 participants expected and, as a bonus, an exceptional concert with Patrick Sébastien to close this ski mountaineering season with a bang, in joy and good humour!

Next week sees the season’s 1st Grand Slam.

The first ski mountaineering round of the Vertical Kilometre (KV) Plum KV Courchevel (PKVC) will be held on Friday 20 January. At the end of the 4 rounds offered this season (20 January, 3 and 17 February, 17 March) on this 5 km course with 1,000 m of elevation gain, approved by the French Mountain and Climbing Federation (FFME), the 2017 French KV records will be awarded.

In the weeks when the MSTC and the PKVC are organised, a ranking is drawn up for those who complete the “Grand Slam” (taking part in the 2 events in the same week).

Next week, the season’s “1st Grand Slam” will take into account the combined times of the MSTC on Wednesday 18 January and those of the PKVC on Friday 20 January. The 2016 “Grand Slam” records were set by Arnaud Mazet (1h09min22s) and Axelle Mollaret (1h16min46s).